Narrower Track Will Give Better Technique

Train Wreck · December 30, 2009

(Source: Langrenn.com, Original Source: NRK, Translation by Patrick Stinson)

Reduced track width of Sjusjøen, Norway at Christmas

“I have long been irritated over the great distance between the ski tracks, because it disrupts good weight transfer and kick. If you were to use a narrower stance this would become completely natural,” says ski enthusiast Eirik Høyem to (Norwegian TV Network) NRK.

Now, he’s actually done something with the case. It’s Christmas up in Sjusjøen, which is known for it’s good snow and good tracks, on Høyem’s initiative they set the tracks 17 centimeters between tracks. It’s five centimeters less than normal. Johannes Haukåssveen, Sjusøen’s trail coordinator, says that the feedback is mixed.

“Some are skeptical and some are positive, but most do not notice that they are narrower. The biggest skeptics are the hardest Birkebeiner skiers. They think that it’s unusual.”

Høyem, the man behind the plan, thinks this can be good for the sport of skiing.

“That which we see on TV today is something I will call ‘neoclassic’. They double pole almost exclusively. When we start to get a smaller track, they will start using the bigger muscle groups like thighs and glutes, and then they will go faster using diagonal than double poling in the gentler hills.”

Over the course of the winter, the same measure will be tested in the Oslo area.